Bolt locking mechanism



O ct. 22, 1957 R. E. MccLELLAN BOLT LOCKING MECHANISLI 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed llrch 7, 1955 l INVHVTOR: .H4/:PH E MGE'LILLAM.

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Ot. 22, 1957 R. E MGCLELLAN Bour LOCKING MECHAMSM 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March "l, 1955 IN VEN TOR: FALPH E. M: ELELLN.

United States Patent O 2,810,616 BOLT LOCKING MECHANISM Ralph E. McClellan, Toledo, Ohio, assigner to Meilink tlel Safe Company, Toledo, Ohio, a corporation of Application March 7, 1955, Serial No. 492,539 19 Claims. (Cl. S12-218) This invention relates toa mechanism for locking a bolt on a closure. More particularly, it deals with such a mechanism for locking the bolt latch of a closure in a receptacle or cabinet in addition to the locking of the closure itself in its closed position in the cabinet, such as for example, the locking of the latching bolt of a drawer in a reinforced metal filing cabinet.

This invention comprises an improvement for the Ralph E. McClellan co-pending application Serial No. 355,496, tiled May 18, 1953, now U. S. Patent No. 2,750,901, by providing therefor an additional latching bolt locking mechanism which may be operated by the common closure locking mechanism disclosed therein.

It is an object of this invention to provide a simple, efficient, effective, and economic bolt locking mechanism to increase the burglar resistance of a bolt locked closure.

Another object is to provide a cabinet having a closure with a plurality of latching or locking bolts, in which one or more of said bolts may be locked by the mechanism of this invention.

Another object is to provide such a protected bolt locking mechanism having a yieldable connection for manually operating the bolt which will fail before breaking the bolt locking mechanism.

Another object is to provide such a locking mechanism for a plural closure cabinet in which each closure has a separate locking bolt, whereby all of the locking bolts of all the closures may be locked simultaneously by the operation of a single mechanism in the cabinet.

Another object is to provide such a locking mechanism which may only be operated when the bolt which it locks is in its bolt locking position and the closure is in its closed position.

Another object is to provide such a bolt locking mechanism for a multi-closure cabinet wherein the mechanism may be operated simultaneously with a common closure locking mechanism provided in the cabinet.

Generally speaking, the bolt locking mechanism of this invention comprises at least one closure for a receptacle or cabinet, which closure is provided with a bolt locking device or latch movable in and out of a seat therefor provided in the closure jam when the closure is in its closed position, and additional means for locking the bolt from movement when it is in its seat. The closure may be provided with manual means or a movable handle for operating the bolt latch and each closure may be provided with more than one bolt latch, such as, for example; a bolt latch proiecting beyond each of the four edges of a rectangular closure door or drawer on the front of a cabinet. The connection between the handle and the bolt latch may be more yieldable than the means for locking the bolt so that force on the handle will not break the bolt locking means when in its bolt locking position. The cabinet and its closures are preferably made of a material resistant to burglary, such as one having an insulated double metal shell, and may also be re resistant.

The bolt locking mechanism may comprise a pin which is moved transversely into the path of movement of the bolt, which bolt may be provided with a seat for its locking pin. Normally, means, such as a spring, is provided for maintaining the pin out of the path of movement of the bolt. Therefore, additional means apart from the closure itself must be provided on or in the cabinet for operating this locking pin when and only when the closure is in its closed position, and when and only when the bolts are in their extended or bolt locking position for the closure. This additional means on or in the cabinet may be connected by means of levers, links, cams, slides, and the like to an additional manual operating means mounted outside the cabinet even including being mounted on the outside of the closure itself, so that the cooperation of this additional means for operating the locking pin cannot be operated unless the closure is in its closed position, so as to be in abuttable contact with the links, levers, cams, and the like mounted in the cabinet for operating the locking pin, which is mounted back again on the closure. Thus, there may be a connection from a manual means on the closure, through a tixed means in or on the cabinet, back to a movable means on the closure for locking the bolt on the closure in its locked position.

This combination of means for operating the pin to lock the bolt latch of a closure may be combined with additional means already pr-ovided for locking the closure in its closed position independent of the bolts, such as the common drawer locking devices provided inside an insulated metal file drawer cabinet as disclosed in the above mentioned McClellan Patent No. 2,750,901. In the cabinet having a plurality of similar closures, each of which has one or more separate latching bolts, and a common closure locking means, the additional means for operating the bolt locking pins may be combined with the common closure locking means to lock all of the bolts in their locked positions simultaneously when the closures and bolts are in their closed and locked positions. Other additional closure locking and interlocking devices may be provided in a single cabinet in combination and cooperation with one or more of the bolt locking mechanisms of this invention without departing from the scope of the present invention.

The above mentioned and other features and objects of this invention and the manner of attaining them will become more apparent and the invention itself will be best understood by reference to the following description of embodiments of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. l is a vertical sectional view of an insulated metal four drawer filing cabinet with parts broken away, incorporating a bolt locking mechanism according to this invention, in combination with a common drawer locking mechanism similar to that disclosed in the above men` tioned McClellan Patent No. 2,750,901.

Fig. 2 is a front elevational view of the upper right corner of the filing cabinet shown in Fig. l, showing the separate manual means yfor operating the latch bolts on the drawer and for locking the latch bolts, both manual means being mounted and locked on the closure or drawer itself;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged section taken along line lII--lll of Fig. 2 showing a doubly locked manual plunger means mounted in the drawer closure for operating both the common multiple drawer locking and latch bolt locking mechanisms shown combined in Fig. l;

Fig. 4 is an inside elevational view of the upper drawer closure of the cabinet shown in Fig. l, with the broken away parts of the cabinet which form the seats for the latch bolts, the whole being shown on an enlarged scale compared to that of Figs. 1 and 2;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line V-V of Fig. 4 showing the closure in its drawer locked position and the bolt of the closure being locked by the pin of the locking mechanism of this invention; and

Fig. 6 is a vertical section along line VI--Vl of Fig. 5, or an enlarged view of the upper right portion of Fig. l, just before the closure reaches its closed position, showing the cooperation of the links, levers, and cams of the combined drawer and bolt locking mechanisms.

Cabinet and closures For the purposes of illustration, the bolt locking mechanism of this invention has been adapted to an insulated four drawer metal filing cabinet as shown in the figures, in which the closure end of each drawer is provided with a handle for manually operating bolt latches for holding the drawer in its closed position. The bolt locking mechanism of this invention is herein adapted for locking the bolt latches in their bolt locking positions when the drawers are in their closed positions, which bolt locking mechanism is tied in with a common drawer locking mechanism through a manual plunger situated at the right side of the top drawer, as more fully described in the McClellan Patent No. 2,750,901 mentioned above.

Referring now specifically to Fig. l, there is disclosed in vertical section a cabinet housing 10, herein provided with four rectangular openings vertically aligned along one side thereof, each of which openings is closed by a separate drawer assembly 11 having an insulated closure end 12. which snugly fits in its corresponding rectangular opening or closure jam in the cabinet. The drawers 11 with their closures 12 horizontally slide in and out of the openings along side tracks 13 anchored in the cabinet for the purpose, which tracks may comprise telescoping parts carrying frictioness rollers for permitting easy movement and good alignment of the closures 12 with their jams in the cabinet. The particular cabinet disclosed in Fig. 1 shows the top and third drawers in their closed position. the second drawer completely removed, and the bottom drawer in its open position.

Bolt latches for closure The closures or drawer fronts 12 at the ends of the drawers 11 are herein shown to be provided with central manual operating means or handles 14 by means of which the drawers may be moved in and out of the cabinet. These handles may be rotated slightly about a horizontal axis for operating the latching bolts provided on the inside of the closure 12. Referring now to Figs. 2 and 4, the rotatable handle 14 may herein be provided with a central pivot pin having a square inner end keyed `to a disk 15 which may be attached through a shear pin or screw 16 to a double ended forked lever 17. The forked ends of the lever may cooperate with pins 18 fixedly mounted in oppositely vertically slidable members 19 at the outer ends of which members may be relatively slidably mounted [arching bolts 20 normally urged in their outwardly extended position by separate springs 21 anchored between the bolts 20 and lugs 22 on the members 19. The yieldable connection or shear pin 16 between the handle 14 and the bolts 20 prevents force on the handle from breaking the bolt locking mechanism described later, by causing the weak pin 16 to fail before the stronger bolt locking mechanism. The outwardly projecting ends of the latching bolts 20 may be bevelled at 23 as shown in Fig. 5. so that the closures 12 may be pushed into their closed positions as shown in Fig. without turning the handles 14. through the relative movement of the bolts 20 against the action of the springs 21.

Also inside or at the back of the closure 12 may be provided an additional pair of sliding members 25, horizontal and at right angles to the sliding members 19. which members 25 may be operated in cooperation with the members 19 by additional pins 26 fixed on the members 19 cammed in slots 27 provided at the inner ends of the members 25. The outer ends of the members 25 may be provided with relatively slidable latching bolts 20 normally maintained in their extended position by means of springs 21 between the bolts 20 and lugs 22 just as those shown mounted at the outer ends of the members 19. Thus, when the forked lever 17 is rotated in a counter clockwise direction as shown in Fig. 4 to pull the two members 19 together against the action of springs 28 fastened between them, the members 25 will similarly be retracted, so as to release the latching bolts 20 provided at the outer ends of all four of the members 19 and 25.

Around the frame or closure jam portion 30 of each opening in the cabinet, there may be provided recessed seats 31 for the extended ends of the latch bolts 20, from which seats the bolts are retracted by the operation of the handle 14 when a drawer closure 12 is to be opened. ln order to increase the burglar resistance of the cabinet the latch bolts 20 may be placed behind steel plates 32 in the closure (see Figs. 5 and 6), and the seats 31 may be placed behind steel plates 33 in the cabinet housing 10 (see Figs. 4 and 5).

Bolt locking mechanism Part of the bolt locking mechanism of this invention is mounted on the inside of the closure l2. This part may comprise a pin 35 (see Figs. 5 and 6) which is movable at right angles to the movement of the latching bolt 20, and movable into the path of the bolt to prevent its retraction by extending into an aperture or seat 36 provided therefor at the outer end of the bolt 20. The pin in its bolt locking position is shown in Fig. 5, and in its normal bolt unlocking position in Fig. 6. This locking pin 35 may be mounted on a bracket 37 and may be normally maintained in its unlocking or retracted position by means of a helical spring 38 acting between the top of the bracket 37 and the flared head 39 at the outwardly projecting end of the pin 3S. To limit the outward movement of the pin 35 from its supporting bracket 37 there may be provided a stop means such as a limiting pin or peg 40 on the pin 35, which peg 40 abuts against the under side of the supporting bracket 37. Thus, unless the head 39 of the pin 35 is pressed towards the outside of the closure 12 into the aperture 36 provided in the bolt 20, the `bolt 2t) is free to be moved by the operation of the handle 14. Also since this part of the bolt latching mechanism is mounted on the closure 12, it is not operated unless the closure 12 is in its closed position as shown in Fig. 5, because the movement of the pin 35 to lock the bolt 2t) is caused by the movement of another part of the bolt locking mechanism, which other part or additional means is mounted on and in the cabinet 10.

Since all of the latch bolts 20 on one closure operate in unison through the connection of the members 25 and 19 with the forked lever 17, the locking of one of these members in its outer position by the movement of the pin 35 into its aperture seat 36 will simultaneously lock the movement of all the other latch bolts on the closure. However, if desired, similar and/or additional bolt locking mechanism and parts may be provided on the bolt on the other side of the closure 12 or on all of the bolts 20 on each or all of the closures 12 of the cabinet.

The additional means or pin actuating part of the bolt locking mechanism of this invention which is mounted on the inside of the cabinet 10 is disclosed in Figs. 1 and 6 and may comprise a slidable member 45 aligned with the abutting head 39 of the pin 35, which member 45 may be made of a piece of sheet metal with an abutting end 46 at right angles thereto, and anchored by rivets, nuts and bolts 47 or the like to the inside wall or a plate 48 mounted thereon adjacent the opening frame 30. This slidable member may be limited in its horizontal movement by slots 49 through which the anchoring means 47 are fastened. Movement of the slide 45 and abutting end 46 toward the outside of the closure 12 pushes the pin 35 into the aperture 36 in the locking bolt 20 when and only when the closure and bolt are in their closed positions. This movement of the slide 45 may be provided through an angular cam slot 50 herein located between the horizontal slots 49, into which slot 50 a pin 51 extends, which pin is fastened to a vertically sliding bar 52. This vertically sliding bar 52 may be moved up and down to move the pin 51 in the slot 50 for correspondingly moving the slide 45 to the right and left. Fig. 6 shows the closure 12 slightly open or ajar from its closed position, with the bolt locking pin head 39 just about to contact the abutting portion 46 of the slide 45, and will contact it when the closure is in the closed position as shown in Fig. l.

The vertically sliding bar 52 which may be mounted on the plate 48, may extend the full height of the cabinet as shown in Fig. l, so as to simultaneously operate and lock the bolt locking mechanisms on all the drawers or closures. This bar 52 may be moved up and down by another manual means mounted either in the cabinet, or as shown herein by a plunger mechanism 55 mounted near the right side of the upper drawer closure 12. This plunger mechanism 55 also may be provided with a key 56 for locking it in its closed position with a bolt in the mechanism S which extends into the seat 57 (see Fig. 6) in the closure wall, and! or by a combination lock device 58 having its bolt 59 (see Fig. 3) engage a seat 60 therefor provided at the inner end of the plunger mechanism 55.

The inner end of the plunger mechanism 55 may also be provided with an adjustable screw abutting head 61 for adjusting its position to operate a bell crank lever 65 which may be pivotly mounted at 66 on plate 48 on and inside of the housing 10. One arm of this bell crank lever 65 may be provided with an abuttable portion 67 for engagement with the abutting head 61 of the plunger mechanism 55, and its other arm may be provided with a slot 68 through which a pin 69 extends, which pin is tixedly mounted on the vertical sliding bar 52. Thus, the bar 52 is raised or moved upwardly when the hell crank lever 65 is rotated about its axis 66 in a counter-clockwise direction by manually pushing inwardly (to the left) the plunger mechanism 55 when and only when the closure 12 is in its closed position as shown in Fig. l or 5 so that the head 61 may contact or abut the portion 67. The raising of the slide bar S2 in turn slides the sliding member 45 outwardly towards the right to abut the head 39 of the pin 35 and then push it against the action of spring 38 into the aperture or seat 36 in the latch bolt 20 and lock it in its extended position as shown in Fig. 5. The operation of the pin 35 thus depends upon the bolt 20 being extended to align seat 36 with pin 35 and its head 39 being within abutting distance of the slide member 45 which only occurs when the closure 12 is in its fully closed position.

The plunger 55 may be locked from movement when the closure is open by means of a notch 70 along its pivoted extension portion 62 which carries the adjustable abutting head 61. This plunger extension 62 may be raised to disengage this notch by a guide member 72 fixed in the cabinet housing which guide 72 also aligns the head 61 with the abuttable portion 67 of the bell crank lever 65. Either or both the key lock 56 or the combination lock 58 may be employed for locking the plunger mechanism 55 in its inward or locking position to further lock the bolt locking mechanism of this invention in its locked position.

The bolt locking mechanism of this invention may have two plungers mounted on a closure as shown in Fig. 25 of the above mentioned McClellan patent so that two similar additional means of levers, sliding bars, and links, carn slots, etc., may be mounted on opposite sides inside the cabinet, both of which must be in proper alignment and all of whose closures must be closed before the tnal locking of the bolts is possible.

Drawer locking mechanism As described in the above mentioned McClellan patent, this additional part of the bolt locking mechanism may also be employed for locking the drawers 11 in their closed positions through means of levers 75 (see Figs. 1 and 6) pivoted at 76 on the plate 48, all of which levers may be operated simultaneously for each of the closures when and only when all the closures are in their closed position. These levers 75 may be adapted to engage keeper slots 77 which may be provided in the angle strips 78 (see Fig. 6) attached along the side of thc drawers 11. Thus, when the bar 52 is raised the levers 75 are lowered (the dotted position 75 thereof in Fig. 6) so that their outer ends lower into the slots 77, the drawers are anchored from being pulled open, even if their handles 14 may be turned and the latch bolts 20 released.

An additional safety and innerlocking mechanism may also be provided on the bar 52 comprising the pin 80 which rides below each drawer side strip 78 so that the bar 52 may only be raised when all the drawers are in their closed positions, which is only when all of the pins 80 can be raised into the notches 81 provided in the bottom edges of the strips 78. A more specic description of this type of interlocking device may be had from the above mentioned McClellan patent to which the bolt locking mechanism of this invention has now been adapted.

The bolt locking mechanism of this invention may be employed separately and apart from the multi-drawer interlocking mechanism, and the bolt locking mechanism itself may be provided for only one closure in the cabinet, without departing from the scope ot this invention.

While there is described above the principles of this invention in connection with specific apparatus, it is to be clearly understood that this description is made only by way of example and not as a limitation to the scope of this invention.

What is claimed is:

l. In a cabinet having a closure, a movable bolt for locking said closure, and means for operating said bolt, the improvement comprising means for locking said bolt from movement when said closure is in its closed position and said bolt is in its closure locking position, said locking means comprising: movable means mounted on said closure, movable abutment means mounted on said cabinet moved by said movable means on said closure when said closure is in its closed position, and normally retracted pin means mounted on said closure operated by said movable abutment means for locking said bolt in its closure locking position.

2. A bolt locking mechanism according to claim 1 including means for normally maintaining said pin means out of its bolt locking position.

3. A cabinet according to claim l wherein said closure has a plurality of bolts.

4. A cabinet according to claim l wherein said means for operating said bolt has a yieldable connection between said means for operating said bolt and said bolt.

5. A cabinet according to claim 4 wherein said yieldable connection comprises a shearable pin.

6. A cabinet having a closure, a bolt means on said closure for locking said closure in its closed position, and a means in said cabinet for locking said closure in said cabinet, the improvement comprising: means in said cabinet for locking said bolt means when in its locking position, and means in said cabinet for operating said bolt locking means by the operation of said means for locking said closure in said cabinet.

7. In a cabinet having an opening, a closure for said opening, a movable bolt for locking said closure in said opening, and means for operating said bolt, the improvement comprising'. means for locking said bolt from movement when said closure is in its closed position and said bolt is in its closure locking position, said locking means comprising: manually movable plunger means mounted on said closure, movable abutment means mounted on said cabinet movable by said plunger means when said closure is in its closed position, and pin means mounted on said closure adjacent said bolt operated by said movable abutment means for locking said bolt in its closed position.

8. A bolt locking mechanism according to claim 7 including spring means for normally maintaining said pin means out of its bolt locking position.

9. A bolt locking mechanism according to claim 7 wherein said movable abutment means comprises a plurality ot' interconnected means including a pair of sliding bars, and a lever.

l0. A bolt locking mechanism according to claim 9 wherein said lever has an abutment contactable by said plunger, one of said sliding bars is operated by said lever, and the other of said sliding bars has an abutment contactable with said pin means.

l1. A cabinet according to claim 7 including means for locking the movement of said plunger means relative to said closure.

l2. In a cabinet having a plurality of openings and a closure for each of said openings, a latch bolt mounted in each closure, seats in said cabinet for said latch bolts, and manual means on each of said closures for operating their said corresponding bolts, the improvement comprising: pin means mounted on each or" said closures adjacent said bolts for movement into the path of movement of said bolts to lock said bolts, spring means for normally urging said pin means out of the path of movement of their corresponding bolts, movable means on said cabinet for operating said pin means for locking at least one of said bolts on each said closure when all of said closures are in their closed positions and said bolts are in their said seats. manual plunger means mounted on at least one of said closures for operating said movable means for operating said bolt locking pin means.

[3. A cabinet according to claim l2 including means for preventing the operation of said bolt locking pin means unless all of said closures are in their closed positions.

14. ln a cabinet having a plurality of aligned closures, a common means for controlling the locking all of said closures together in their closed position, and separato bolt means for each closure for separately locking each closure in its closed position, the improvement comprising: additional means on each closure for locking all of said bolt means when in their locking position, separate means for normally maintaining each of said additional locking means out of its bolt locking position, and separate movable abutment means mounted in said cabinet at each closure adjacent said additional means and operated by said common means for simultaneously operating said additional bolt locking means when all of said closures and bolts are in their closed positions.

l5. A cabinet according to claim 14 wherein said common means comprises a slide bar extending along the inside of said cabinet adjacent the edges of all of said closures, and said plunger means includes means for operating said slide bar.

l6. A cabinet according to claim l5 including means mounted on said closures for permitting the operation of said slide bar when all of said closures are in their closed position.

t7. ln a cabinet having a plurality of closures, separate bolt means for locking each closure in closed position, and a common means for controlling the locking all of said closures in said cabinet. the improvement comprising: separate means on cach said closure adjacent said bolt means for engaging said bolt means when in its locking position, and separate means for each closure operated by said common means for operating all of said bolt engaging means simultaneously.

18. A cabinet according to claim I7 including separate means for normally maintaining said separate bolt locking means out of their locking positions.

19. In a cabinet having a plurality ol` closures, separate bolt means for locking each closure in closed position, and a common means for controlling the locking all said closures in said cabinet, the improvement comprising: separate means on each said ciosure adjacent said bolt means for engaging said bolt means `vhen in its lock` ing position, and separate means mounted in said cabinet operated by said common means adjacent said bolt engaging means when said closures are in closed position for operating said bolt engaging means.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,033,793 Geraty July 30, 1912 1,928,265 Rand Sept. 26, 1933 2,138,856 Harp Dec. 6, 1938 2,209,727 Gibson July 30, 1940 2,532,942 Reimer Dec. 5, 1950 2,559,579 Abrahamson July l0, 1951 2,636,762 Jameson Apr. 28, 1953 

